Field
The present disclosure relates generally to support node apparatuses in wireless network systems such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) systems, and more specifically, to user equipment (UE) relocation within a pool of support node apparatuses, such as a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or Serving General packet radio service Support Node (SGSN) pool.
Related Art
3GPP Specification TS 23.236 defines the concept of SGSN and MME pooling to support a common set of radio access network (RAN) nodes by a group of SGSNs (in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network) or a group of MMEs (in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network).
The above-noted specification also defines a way to offload User Equipment from one SGSN or MME to other SGSNs or MMEs in the pool. A limitation of the 3GPP defined solution is that the operator cannot control a target SGSN or MME in the pool to which the UEs are migrated during the offload.